Friday, June 25, 2010

Quote of the Week

Thanks to FSP, from the article The End of Men:
For a long time, evolutionary psychologists have claimed that we are all imprinted with adaptive imperatives from a distant past ... this kind of thinking frames our sense of the natural order. But what if men and women were fulfilling not biological imperatives but social roles, based on what was more efficient throughout a long era of human history? What if that era has now come to an end?

8 comments:

  1. What is adaption? You can think on it in a physical way.

    Social roles are secondary.

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  2. The End of Men? Sounds sexist to me.

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  3. Anon, the phrase refers to (i) the possible end of patriarchal bias against women (although we are very far from being there yet) and (ii) today's factual preference of American parents for female offspring over male offspring.

    Ideally, we would live in a world where both women and men are given reasonable opportunities in life, whatever their chosen profession. On the other hand, if women do end up taking over (as the article discusses) ... well, a few millennia of female rule might be an interesting experiment. Certainly worth considering by futurologists as a realistic possibility.

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  4. As far as predicting the future, one could examine the differences in behavior between the children of those who have lots of children and those who have few. Presumably, society will shift in that direction.

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  5. In the long term, not necessarily Carl. As the article suggests, economic influences are a driving factor behind rapid cultural changes, and people with many siblings today may be just as willing to adopt modern ideals in the future as others are.

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  6. "... today's factual preference of American parents for female offspring over male offspring. ..."

    Sounds encouraging! So there'll be an excess of females in the USA in 20 years time, when I'll finally be ready to marry. Cool.

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  7. Look at this End of Men :)
    http://www.scientificblogging.com/rogue_neuron/blog/effect_women_have_men

    Poor men then! How aggressive they might be!

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